


A First Time For Everything

by ebbj9891



Series: In Quest Of Something [6]
Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Family Dynamics, Friendship, Gen, Humour, M/M, Parent-Child Relationship, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-17 12:33:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3529571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebbj9891/pseuds/ebbj9891
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mel never, ever thought she'd live to see Brian Kinney getting into tickle fights, colouring in, drinking milkshakes, or doing kiddie yoga. But there's a first time for everything, and today is definitely a day of firsts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A First Time For Everything

**Author's Note:**

> This plot bunny has been with me for a while now and various iterations of it have been lurking around in my drafts. I finally decided to go ahead and finish it - I thought it might provide some fluffy respite for those who have just read the most recent chapter of _Scathed_ , plus the Gus/Brian/Mel dynamic has fascinated me for some time and I was really keen to explore it in greater depth than I have previously. So here it is! Hope you enjoy :)

"Gus, if you're not dressed and downstairs in the next thirty seconds, I swear to-" Mel heaves a sigh as J.R. interrupts her with another hearty bout of squalling. "Honey, no! Come on! Work with me a little!"

Being solely responsible for two young children isn't all it's cracked up to be. When Linds left on Saturday to attend a week-long conference, Mel was sure that she could handle it. Sadly, the last forty-eight hours have proven her dead wrong. Gus and J.R. are more than a handful - hell, they're more than two handfuls! Mel is convinced that there aren't words known yet to describe the two of them. They're a troublesome twosome, if ever there was one.

Just as she's about to pick up the screaming baby, the doorbell starts chiming. With a frustrated growl, Mel marches towards it, fully prepared to unleash hell if it's that awful vacuum salesman who refuses to leave them the fuck alone - or, even worse, that creepy Stepford neighbour who's always bringing them eerily picturesque baskets of muffins. Yeah, if it's either of those two, they're about to get an earful and then some. Actually, she's about ready to unleash hell on  _anyone_  given the current circumstances.

As Mel wrenches open the door, she's on the cusp of snarling at the visitor to go the fuck away. But then she stops dead in her tracks.

"... Brian?"

"Hey," he says, looking ever so slightly guilty. There's a rather large suitcase set beside him, which immediately piques Mel's curiosity.

Before either of them can utter so much as another syllable, an ecstatic shriek reverberates through the house. "DADDY?!" 

As Mel stares at Brian, stunned by his unexpected arrival, Gus comes galloping down the stairs. He throws himself at Brian and cries elatedly, "What are you doing here?"

Brian kneels down and wraps Gus up in a bear hug. "What do you think? I wanted to see you, kiddo."

"But you weren't supposed to be here for another whole entire fortnight!"

Brian mock-huffs and stands up. "I guess I'll just go then."

"No!" Gus burst out laughing and clings to Brian's legs. "Don't be a sillyhead, I want you to stay! This is the bestest thing ever!!"

While the two of them hug and kiss some more, Mel seizes the opportunity to rush over to J.R. and soothe her. A few bounces seems to do the trick; once J.R. is settled, Mel places her back down in her playpen. When she turns around, Gus has vanished and Brian is standing by the stairs awkwardly.

"He said he needed to get dressed," Brian explains, shifting uneasily. "Look, I know I probably shouldn't show up unannounced like this-"

"Are you kidding me?" Mel strides towards him and surprises them both by enveloping him in a hug. "Brian, I am so fucking happy to see you, I could cry."

When she lets him go, he's peering at her suspiciously. Sounding incredibly perturbed, Brian demands, "Are you feeling alright?"

"No," she admits, dragging her hands through her hair. "Linds is away for work at the moment and everything is fucking chaotic. J.R. was supposed to be at my friend's house ten minutes ago, Gus and I are supposed to be across town in less than half an hour, and he might  _say_  he's getting dressed, but I'll bet you anything that he's playing with his Legos instead."

Brian glances at J.R., who is clambering around in her playpen without a care in the world, and then upstairs towards Gus' room. "Okay, so why don't you take J.R. to your friend's place? I'll make sure he gets dressed."

"Really?" Mel is too tired to disguise how stunned she is. It clearly offends Brian.

"Yes,  _really,"_  he says, narrowing his eyes at her. "You take the baby. I'll handle Gus."

Mel glances at her watch. "Okay... I'll meet you back here in ten minutes. Can you have him ready by then?"

"Sure," Brian says airily, as though it's so goddamned easy. If only she weren't so short on time, Mel might take offense to his  _laissez faire_  demeanor. But since the clock is ticking, she decides to let it go.

"I'll see you soon, okay?" She rushes for J.R. and scoops her up, then grabs her keys and the diaper bag. Not hearing a response, she turns around and finds that Brian has disappeared. "Brian?"

"See you soon," he calls from upstairs, over the sound of Gus' delighted giggles.

The last thing Mel hears before she leaves the house is, "Daddy! Stop tickling me or else I'll tickle you!"

There's no time to marvel at the mental image of Brian Kinney engaging in a tickle fight. She'll have to set it to the side with all of the other questions she has for Brian and return to it later.

*

When Mel returns home, Gus and Brian are sitting on the stairs together, hunched over a colouring book. Miraculously, Gus is finally out of his pyjamas and all ready to go. 

"This person needs blonde hair," Gus instructs, stabbing his finger to the page. Brian nods and starts colouring the area with yellow marker. Gus smiles and says keenly, "Now he looks like Jus!"

It's somewhat unsettling, seeing Brian grasping one of Gus' fat yellow markers and carefully colouring with it. Mel shakes off her surprise and asks, "Are you guys ready to go?"

"All set," Brian confirms. He caps the marker, closes the colouring book, and stands up. "Coming, Sonny Boy?"

Gus draws his knees to his chest and rests his head on top of them. Pouting and staring at the banister, he mumbles, "Don't wanna."

Mel estimates that there are approximately eight seconds remaining until the thumb-sucking commences. As she and Brian exchange a knowing look, she expects that he's predicting the same thing. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three-

Gus is ahead of schedule. He pops his thumb in his mouth and sucks on it forlornly. Brian arches an eyebrow at Mel, then kneels down and says gently, "What's the matter, kiddo?"

Whatever Gus says is muffled through the thumb jammed in his mouth. Brian grasps his wrist gently and pulls his hand away. Before this can prompt a meltdown, Brian explains kindly, "I can't hear what you're saying when you're doing that."

Gus sighs and says, his lip quivering, "Mommy isn't here."

"We can do yoga without Mommy," Mel resolves, feigning confidence. In all honesty, she's worried about Linds' absence as well. The whole kiddie yoga thing was her idea, and she's a hell of a lot better at it than Mel is.

Whimpering, Gus protests, "But I don't know how!"

Mel approaches and sits on the step below Gus. As she strokes his hair softly, she reassures him, "You do know how. It's just like when Mommy's with us, only it'll just be us two. You still know all the steps, muffin. Besides, the teacher is there to help if we get a little lost."

"But everyone else has two parents doing it!" Gus crumples his face up in an exaggerated affectation of anguish. "I don't want to be the only one with just one parent."

"You won't be," Mel promises. "Amy only ever comes with her mom, and Joseph will be there with his nanny like always."

None of this seems to placate Gus. He sighs tragically and mumbles, "I want Daddy to do it. Then there'll be three of us like there should be."

Mel almost laughs out loud. It's hard to contain it, especially when she spies the look of abject dread on Brian's face. But contain it she must, so she stifles it by pressing a kiss to Gus' cheek. "Honey, I don't think-"

"Of course I'll do it," Brian interjects, smiling at Gus adoringly.

Gus beams at him. "Really, Daddy?"

"Really," Brian promises. "It sounds like fun."

His grin growing ever wider, Gus explains excitedly, "It is fun! Moms always gets us a spot right at the front and we listen to music and do lots of poses! And you can have mommy's mat - it has ladybugs on it."

Now there's a mental image: Brian Kinney doing kiddie yoga on a mat adorned with ladybugs. Mel smirks at Brian a little. She's somewhat perturbed when he merely shrugs in response. 

"Daddy," Gus says, suddenly very serious, "It's imp- imp-"

"Imperative," Mel supplies, smiling proudly at Gus. She loves his voracious approach to growing his vocabulary.

"Im-pear-ate-ive," Gus continues, "That you wear breathing clothes."

Brian frowns at Gus, then looks at Mel cluelessly. "Breathing clothes?"

Mel assesses him critically; he's head-to-toe in expensive clothes that don't breathe at all, as Brian is wont to be. "You know, loose-fitting stuff. The teacher also recommends organic cotton, but that's a bit fu- uh, a bit pretentious, if you ask me."

With a quick nod, Brian stands up and says, "I have sweats in my luggage. Give me two minutes."

"Yay!" Gus grins and claps his hands. As Brian disappears upstairs, Gus turns to Mel and gushes, "Daddy's amazing."

"Daddy is amazing," Mel says slowly. She stands up and offers her hand to Gus. "Come on, baby, let's wait for him in the car."

*

It's the Twilight Zone. It has to be. After giving it a great amount of thought, Mel has decided conclusively that there is no way that this is reality. No, this is some alternate reality. Or maybe the person sitting next to her right now is a pod person. He looks like Brian and sounds like Brian, but he's certainly not acting like Brian.

Though it surprised Mel at first to have him show up unexpectedly, when she thinks about it, it wasn't all that shocking. Brian's impulsivity is well-known, and his desire to be close to Gus is hardly a secret. That's all well and good. Actually, it's better than that; Mel has been struggling without Linds since she left, and Gus has been struggling without Brian for weeks now. Having Brian appear on their doorstep unexpectedly was honestly a huge blessing. 

It's all the other stuff that leads Mel to believe that this isn't Brian, but rather, a pod person. Like the tickle-fighting. And the colouring. 

And the _kiddie yoga_. Mel never, ever, ever thought that she would live to see Brian Kinney meditating to children's lullabies. Or stretching on top of a ladybug mat. He actually seemed pretty into the whole thing - there wasn't one hint of resistance, nor any semblance of scorn.

It was absolutely fucking bizarre. 

Now they're at lunch and the pod person behaviours have continued. Brian is playing the part of the perfect gentleman. It's nice, in a way, but at the same time... it's insanely fucking creepy. Mel almost wishes he would cut it the fuck out. She tries to tell herself that there's a first time for everything, but that explanation doesn't suffice - not when she's faced with this strangely pleasant and attentive version of Brian. No way, it's too fucking weird.

As he cuddles up to Gus and reads the menu to him, Mel wonders how on earth she'll ever break the news to Linds and Justin.  _Sorry, guys, your beloved Brian has been replaced by an alien being._ Shit, they'll be heartbroken.

"Oh my god," Gus says, his eyes widening. "They have fishies?!"

Mel and Brian follow his awed gaze to an aquarium at the back of the restaurant. With a knowing sort of smile, Brian ruffles his hair. "Why don't you go and have a look, kiddo?"

That's all the permission Gus needs; he's out of his seat and across the restaurant in a fraction of a second. He almost floors their waitress on his way, but she seems unfazed as she approaches the table. "Can I get you two some drinks?"

Brian looks at Mel and offers, "I can drive us home, if you want to drink."

 _Yep. Pod person._  Mel smiles at the waitress and asks for a glass of wine. 

With his gaze still fixed on Gus, Brian says, "Coffee for me, and our son will have a lemonade."

As soon as the waitress leaves, Mel shoots a look at Brian. "You realise how that came across, right? She thinks we're together."

He scrunches up his face in utter repulsion.  _That's more like it_ , Mel thinks, whilst also feeling rather offended. She glares at Brian and snaps, "Like I'd touch you with a ten foot pole."

"I'm the one with the pole," he reminds her, smirking. "It's not ten feet, but it's closer than anything you've got on you."

_Yep, that's definitely much more like it._

"I hate to break this to you, Bri," Mel says, smirking right back at him, "But if we ever were together, I'd be the top."

"You fucking wouldn't," Brian snaps, looking utterly outraged. 

"I absolutely would," she retorts with complete confidence.

He scoffs. "Like you'd even know what to do."

"I know my way around a stra-" Mel stops abruptly and clamps her mouth shut. Gus has returned to the table and is watching the two of them with immense curiosity. Trying to come across as innocently as possible, she asks, "Honey, how long have you been standing there?"

"Only long enough to know that you two are fighting," Gus mutters, crawling underneath the table so he can fit in between them in the middle of the booth. In his most officious tone, he preaches, "Mommy says that you two aren't allowed to fight. She said to me, 'Gus, if Mommy M and Daddy fight, you tell them how it makes you feel'. You know how it makes me feel?"

He pauses, his gaze bouncing back and forth between them very seriously. After a spell of suspense, he says solemnly, "It makes me feel hurt and it makes me feel disappointed in you two. So what do you have to say to that?"

"We were not fighting," Brian says, pairing this denial with a comforting pat on Gus' shoulder.

"We were merely having a lively discussion," Mel adds, smiling pleasantly at Brian. "Right, Bri?"

He smiles back very, very sweetly. "It was a lively discussion. It was also rife with ludicrous statements which indicate a certain someone is ever so slightly delusional, but you needn't worry about that, Sonny Boy."

Gus looks mystified by the avalanche of advanced words that Brian has just cunningly used. Frowning, he picks up the menu and scans it. "Can I have fries for my lunch?"

"Sure." Mel kisses the top of his head gently. "Pick something healthy, too."

"I don't wanna," Gus protests. He turns to Brian for support, pleading, "Daddy-"

"You need to choose something healthy," Brian says firmly. "Here, kiddo, how about the fish? That comes with salad and fries."

"The fish?" Gus glances across the room worriedly. "Like the fish over there? Would they go on my plate?"

Brian ruffles his hair. "No, they're not going to go on your plate. Don't you worry."

Gus grins and wriggles out under the table again, then bolts across the restaurant to gaze into the aquarium once more. As soon as he's gone, Brian says discretely, "They use those fish for the sushi."

Mel laughs and suggests, "Let's keep that to ourselves, shall we?"

*

For the rest of the day, Mel watches Brian and Gus with intrigue. She's often preoccupied during Brian's visits, but today there's no Linds or J.R. to keep her busy. She's left with plenty of time to observe the two of them and suss out whether or not Brian's doting dad act is genuine.

It soon becomes plainly obvious that it's entirely genuine. She almost wants to hug him again, but they're back to snarking at each other playfully and Mel much prefers that. She's also concerned that Gus might bite her head off if she comes within a foot of Brian - the kid is awfully possessive. Mel adds it to her list of items to worry about, which currently comprise Gus' homesickness, his ceaseless longing for Brian and Justin, and the subsequent onslaught of anxieties that he's been riddled with in the past few months.

When Linds calls to check in on Gus, Mel leaves him to talk to her and escapes outside with Brian for a smoke. They sit at the far end of the garden and talk quietly about Gus' issues and what to do about them. As they're finalising an action plan, Gus comes bolting outside. He throws himself at Brian and starts begging for dinner. Mel watches as Brian swings him up, then to and fro, and recalls when her mother used to do that years ago. She can't get enough of the sound of Gus' delighted laughter and, judging by the smile on Brian's face, neither can he.

*

"Here you go, Daddy," Gus says with palpable pride as he sets a pink milkshake down in front of Brian. "It's my very own special recipe and I made you my favourite. It's strawberry-cherry. It's the yummiest with Mommy's spaghetti."

Mel watches with intrigue while she dishes up dinner. She knows Gus' milkshake recipe all too well - it involves copious amounts of cream and ice-cream, plus sugary syrups and other such things that Brian typically refuses to touch. As Gus grabs the straws from the cabinet, Mel isn't at all surprised to hear Brian suggest, "How about we share it, Sonny Boy?"

This suggestion pleases Gus greatly. He claps his hands and nods his head yes, then jumps into Brian's lap. Immediately, Mel meets Brian's gaze. He arches an eyebrow at her as if to say  _now what?_

They were talking about this earlier; about Gus' tendency to toe a messy line between affectionate and clingy. Mel erred on the side of tough love, while Brian didn't seem all that bothered - at least, not until she pointed out that it might be reflective of Gus' anxious nature and that indulging it might be counter-productive. Eventually they agreed to make an attempt at weaning him off some of the clingier behaviours, although Brian still seemed pretty goddamned dubious about the whole thing.

"Gus," Mel warns, "Give Daddy some space."

"Jus lets me sit like this for dinner," Gus argues, sticking his lower lip out to form a very dramatic pout. Mel watches him and Brian carefully. She wonders if he'll stick to their reluctant agreement (which might lead to Gus having a meltdown) or whether he'll bail on it (which might lead to them reverting to feuding).

Somehow, Brian manages to strike a balance between the two. He pats Gus' head comfortingly. "How about this, kiddo? Sharing seats is a once-in-a-while treat."

That actually sounds pretty reasonable - well, except to Gus. He scowls contemplatively and asks, "Like, how often?"

"Like, if you haven't seen someone in a while," Mel suggests, looking at Brian. "Is that what you were thinking?"

He nods. "Sounds good to me."

"Okay, well, I haven't seen Daddy in an eternity plus forever, so I get to sit here," Gus resolves decisively, whilst giving them both a look that reads as a warning not to cross him on this. 

"I wasn't aware that three weeks constituted an 'eternity plus forever'," Mel teases gently. Gus pokes his tongue out at her but dissolves into giggles as she musses his hair playfully.

"It can feel like it," Brian says. He presses a kiss to Gus' temple. "Right, kiddo?"

"Right." Gus nods heartily, then boasts, "Daddy always understands because he misses me and Jus times one trillion."

Sometimes Gus has a tendency to blurt out fanciful things that he's concocted all on his own, but Mel is inclined to believe that this isn't one of those times. Though she hasn't seen it for herself, everyone else has stories to tell about what a miserable shit Brian has been since Justin's departure. Also, he looks intensely uncomfortable right now, like he's been outed by his mouthy son.

She's almost tempted to stand up for Brian and tell Gus to keep private conversations private, but then Brian pipes up and says, "That's true. In fact, I've made a decision."

Gus looks at Brian with immense intrigue. Mel sits down next to them and watches Brian carefully. She really has no idea what to expect. Linds seems convinced that Brian is destined to move to New York, but that doesn't sound a whole lot like Brian... does it?

Brian looks at her sharply, as though he knows what she's thinking. Then he announces, "I'm moving to New York on Wednesday."

"Daddy!" Gus gasps and claps his hands over his cheeks. "Are you really?"

"I am," Brian says, quite gently. He brushes his hand through Gus hair and adds, "Really."

"Really, really?"

"Really. As luck would have it, the time is ripe for Kinnetik to expand-"

Gus shakes his head and refutes, "That's not the reason."

"Yeah," Mel smirks. She's as impressed with her son's cunning as she is amused by Brian's bullshit reasoning. "That's _not_  the reason."

Brian pulls a face at her. "It's a part of it. A big part of it, actually. But okay, sure - there's also a certain someone there who I'd rather like to be with, and I'd like for it to be in New York. All this long distance sh-  _nonsense_ is getting old. So is Pittsburgh, for that matter."

With his face clutched in his hands and his eyes big and dreamy, Gus gushes, "Daddy, that's the most romantic thing I've ever heard in my whole life."

"You think so, huh?" Brian smiles at Gus and tickles him a little. Gus shrieks out a laugh and nods emphatically.

"I think so too," Mel says, smiling at Brian encouragingly. "You know, Gus loves romance. I always thought he got that from Linds, but maybe not."

She then grins evilly and taunts, "Maybe he gets it from his darling Daddy."

"Yup," Gus agrees happily, seemingly unaware to Mel's playful tormenting of Brian. 

Brian merely rolls his eyes and sighs dismissively, as she had expected he might.

But today hasn't been anything like what she expected it would be, so Mel opts to stick with that theme. She kicks Brian under the table and says, "Hey."

He looks at her with an expression that's trying far too hard to come across as moderately contemptuous. "Yeah?"

"Good for you. I'm sure that you and Kinnetik will be very happy in New York."

He nods at her; it comes across as cool, but Mel swears she senses some modicum of warmth lingering underneath.

"Can I come visit?" Gus pleads. "I wanna see Jus. I wanna see New York!"

"Of course you can," Mel and Brian say at once. They immediately look at each other in mild horror. Forming a functional truce is one thing, but speaking in tandem?  _Never again,_ Mel resolves silently. She expects Brian is thinking exactly the same thing.

"Dinner time," Gus announces brightly. "Daddy, have some milkshake."

He pushes the glass towards Brian. Mel isn't sure what to expect - only a few minutes ago, she could have sworn that Brian would find some sneaky way out of drinking the sugary pink goo. But Brian isn't entirely himself today... or maybe he has been. Mel assesses him carefully - the way his arm is curled protectively around Gus, the matching smiles they're directing at each other, and the glow of happiness surrounding the two of them. Though she still finds it somewhat strange, Brian seems completely at ease.

It occurs to Mel that this is the Brian that she's been hearing so much about from Linds and Justin for so many years. Mel has been skeptical of his existence and has often dismissed their version as mere myth, but here he is in the flesh - cuddling with their son, chatting about New York, and reaching for the milkshake to take a sip. This is the first time she's really seen him, but as jarring as it was to begin with, it turns out that it's not so disturbing after all. In fact, she's rather looking forward to seeing more of this not-so-mythical iteration of Brian Kinney. So when Gus starts demanding to know when he'll see Brian next, Mel speaks up without delay and says sincerely, "You can come back any time you want. We'd love to have you here."

**The End**


End file.
